Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergei Palkin has hit out at football agents being allowed to "make themselves richer" following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
When Ukraine was invaded in February, football clubs throughout the nation had to prioritise the safety of their staff and players. The safe passage of foreign players out of the country was vital, alongside providing relatively secure accommodation to local staff.
Palkin and other senior members of the club's staff had a pronounced personal urgency to act swiftly too, as they rushed to move family members out of the eastern side of Ukraine, which had become the centre of an unwanted war. Eight years earlier, Shakhtar had been forcibly moved from their home city due to the war in the Donbas region between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists.
Shakhtar players and staff were temporarily sheltered in a hotel owned by club president Rinat Akhmetov before a UEFA-backed plan to seal their safe passage out of the nation was secured. Their immediate safety had been secured but the practicality of keeping their array of foreign stars at a club unable to play matches for a five-month period became a pressing issue for the hierarchy. FIFA moved to issue a temporary regulation, allowing foreign players registered with Ukrainian clubs to play elsewhere.
David Neres – the Brazil international winger – had only joined the club in January from Ajax but was almost immediately sold to Benfica while his fellow Brazilians Marcos Antonio and Fernando joined Lazio and Red Bull Salzburg respectively. Forward Tete joined Lyon on loan until the end of the season. Another Brazilian, Pedrinho, joined Shakhtar for €18million in 2021 but had to be loaned out to Atletico-MG while Marquinhos Cipriano joined Cruzeiro.
Shakhtar's squad was decimated with the remaining non-Ukraine players likely to depart. Israeli international Manor Solomon has all but officially joined Fulham on loan, full-back Dodo has been linked to Benfica, while Marlon, Ismaily and Lassina Traore are also likely to leave. The club's Director of Football Darijo Srna exclusively told Mirror Football: "We will be a team of hungry Ukrainian players."
Understandably, all of Ukraine's clubs are desperate for a solution to be found that minimises the mass financial and sporting losses they will have to endure amidst the backdrop of an ongoing war. Yet last month, FIFA issued an update to say that "foreign players and coaches will have the right to suspend their employment contracts with their clubs" – essentially meaning that Ukraine's club would not be financially rewarded for their star assets unless they came to individual agreements separately.
Shakhtar, like all other Ukrainian clubs, had intended to sell their foreign stars to cover losses and debts, including to other teams in obligations for future payments based on previous transfers. FIFA has insisted its decision was based on consultation with relevant stakeholders in Ukraine but Shakhtar's Chief Executive Palkin alleges that the nation's clubs, Football Association and leagues were not part of the process.
Palkin exclusively tells Mirror Football that FIFA's first mistake with the situation came in 2014, by not adequately supporting the club when they were forcibly moved out of their home city of Donetsk. He has accused them of now facilitating the allowance of agents to swoop in and profit from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and ensuing instability.
"Nobody seemed to pay too much attention to what was going on in 2014," Palkin explains. "That was the same in football as it was with other areas. FIFA's attention to the situation with Shakhtar Donetsk should have started in 2014, not now.
"Their decision is not supporting Ukrainian clubs; indeed it is destroying them – we have a lot of foreigners in the league and FIFA's decision is hurting the club. We lost deals with the amount of up to almost €50million.
"When they are making the decision, they should have been communicating it with all stakeholders including the Ukraine FA and all its member clubs, with the decision made on the information they receive from them.
"But what they did was to issue a decision but not to communicate with any of the clubs, and they ignored a letter that all the clubs signed and a lot of emails that we sent them from our legal department.
"We have sent FIFA a letter to say that if they will not help us in this situation then we will sue them and take them to court. The decision gave agents the opportunity to make themselves much richer, because they can tell other clubs they do not need to pay Shakhtar Donetsk but they can make more commission from that."
Despite the distinct challenges they have encountered this year, the club will once again participate in this season's Champions League and will showcase themselves in football's biggest competition. "It is a huge challenge for us because we need to rebuild almost an entirely new team," adds Palkin.
"But it is very important for us to bring some emotions to our fans and just like with league matches, to show that we have survived. We have continued with our objectives of playing attractive football and continuing to win trophies. Everything that we have done is because of our president, who has provided us with such important support."
The club's CEO then vowed: "When the war is over, we will return very quickly to the level we were operating at before. Indeed, we believe we can achieve higher results after and be an even stronger club."
In preparation, Shakhtar have been trying to arrange friendlies against European opposition and they had been in talks with English clubs over pre-season matches. They have confirmed three matches in the Netherlands, including against Ajax.
Ukrainian football is, despite all the adversity, hopeful of restarting again next month with Palkin explaining: "It was President Zelensky's decision to restart the league to coincide with Ukraine Independence Day on 24 August. All of our games will be dedicated to the message that we need to win this war and end the conflict as soon as possible.
"We need to continue sending the message of what is going on in Ukraine. We need to collect money to support our Ukrainian refugees, our army and the people."
Palkin took the time to thank the wider football community for their support throughout the conflict, both symbolically and by providing aid during a time of crisis.
He continued: "It is important to thank all the European clubs who have supported Ukraine through this time; such as the messages from the Premier League and the Bundesliga.
"Benfica provided a lot of donations to our Ukrainian refugees and there were other clubs who did similar things, so we want to thank them. We need to feel that we are not alone and that we have the support, both through the symbolism and the help that can be given to refugees."
Mirror Football has contacted FIFA for a response.
